Lukong Pius Nyuylime
21 November 2008
SMEs' Minister, told Finance Committee yesterday while Urban Development Minister announced projects for his Ministry in the second budget defence.
One of the key ministries in the centre of the fight against poverty, the Ministry of Small and Medium Sized Enterprise, Social Economy and Handicraft took the rostrum before members of the Finance Committee of the National Assembly yesterday. For well over two hours, Minister Laurent Serge Etoundi Ngoa who opened the ballet for the day presented and defended the projects his department has earmarked for 2009.
"If this budget were to be granted us, it would permit us in 2009 to ." This statement ushered in the enumeration of 12 main projects Minister Etoundi Ngoa has programmed for 2009. The said projects will be financed with a budget of CFA 5,989,000,000 of which CFA 3,889,000,000 is allocated for operating expenditure. The budget for the SMEs ministry has, in effect, witnessed an increase of CFA 1,883,000,000. The projects earmarked for 2009 include: organising regional handicraft exhibitions, preparation of the Cameroon International Handicraft Exhibition in Yaounde during the first quarter on 2010, draw up the basic law on SMEs as well as its regulation, constructing the Yaounde International Handicraft Centre, carrying out studies to create the Garoua, Bamenda and Douala Handicraft Pool Exhibition Centres, carrying out studies for the construction of Agro-food processing pilot centres in Bertoua, Ebolowa and Limbe, equipping the agro-food processing pilot centres of Ndam, Maroua and Yaounde; continuing the support programme for SMEs that process local products of mass consumption, rehabilitating regional and Divisional delegations and setting up and operating the Integrated Management System of Personnel and Salaries (SIGIPES).
Minister Etoundi Ngoa told MPs his ministry recorded a consumption rate of 63.85% in 2008 of operating budget and 96% of Public Investment Budget.
Urban Development and Housing
The budget of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing takes into consideration the present exigencies of Cameroonian towns. Clobert Tchatat, the Minister in charge of Urban Development and Housing was quite particular about the beauty of the towns as a place of residence. He gave four basic needs of man which a town must satisfy: residential areas, production and service activities, commercial activities, recreational centres and communication networks and facilities. "Every bit of urban space has to be suitably developed into basic public facilities and services to satisfy the many needs of population that desires to be able to meet such needs on the spot", he said.
Minister Tchatat recalled the problems Cameroonian towns are facing today including the shortage of housing units, poor road network, haphazard construction of houses and other structures, absence of public gardens and street lights, poor drainage system and ill organised sewage disposal.
What does the Ministry of Urban Development intend to do within the coming year? According to Minister Tchatat, his department will among others finalise urban development sector strategy, carry out technical studies on drainage and sanitation in secondary towns, study on constructing public buildings and drawing up of urban master plan. Concretely, in Yaounde, the main project will be the construction of Carrefour Préfecture Nlongkak, Yaounde north one-way boulevard, broadening of the Olezoa-Hotel Prestige stretch,completion of work on the Nsimalen acess road and continuous execution of the C2D investment programme.
The budget for that ministry stands at CFA 56,938,000,000, of which CFA 39,622,000,000 is allocated for investment.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Cameroon Tribune. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
